Blog that!

..and onwards to Twitter!

2011-06-02T10:57:00.000+10:00

Update: While I've enjoyed blogging here, you can find me on Twitter.

It's a bit wit here!

2009-10-05T10:35:00.007+11:00

I've been in Auckland for just over a month for work & have noticed the following:

- Despite what most of the locals say, public transport in the city is actually pretty good. If I'm feeling lazy, a bus takes me pretty close to my flat. However, my view has obviously been swayed by years of Sydney public transport.

- One of the bars I visited when I first arrived in AKL responded to me on Twitter! The bar, Steamship, is in a pretty good location & is a nice after work spot. They've even got lamps hanging from the roof!

- The NZ accent has me smiling to myself most days. One of my colleagues, sent me this amusing link on mastering the Kiwi accent.

- All kiwis I've met so far are very proud of Flight of the Conchords, and why shouldn't they be? It's an awesome show!

More later..

The Generational Digital Divide

2009-06-03T15:52:00.005+10:00

I came across an interesting study done by the University of Vermont which aimed to "engage youth in teaching senior citizens computer and Internet skills to navigate and obtain needed information from the Medicare web site".

If you check out the study results, it proves that after training sessions the senior citizens proved to be very competent at using the Medicare website.

Nielsen Online released figures over 5 and half years ago, outlining the growth in senior citizens using the Internet. I have no doubt this has escaluated and the ratio between young and senior citizens online have narrowed. Just think about all the grandparents checking our their grandchildren on Facebook.

Check out these blog posts for more informative posts on senior citizens online:
Is Online Video Marketing Bigger Than Social Networking? (Included are some more recent stats on senior citizens watching online videos)
Online Social Networks Empower Older People (Some info on online community for aging baby boomers).

Australia’s digital divide: Some thoughts on the media

2009-06-01T18:26:00.000+10:00

After seeing this tweet on Twitter, I started to think about the different levels of access Australian’s have in regards to published/broadcasted material:

View lenvanheerden’s tweet

Of course, most Internet users have access to illegal streaming and download sites, but Australians don’t have a third party website that allows to stream shows for free. Itunes Australia provides some free content, including video podcasts, and Youtube can be used for some programs, but most Australian programs are very hard to access legally online.

The ABC allows streaming of previous episodes, as do some of the commercial stations like Channel 9 and Channel 10, but not without a myriad of advertisements in place. Networks will be forced to create legal avenues for users to view programs, otherwise users will continue to access illegal sites.

It is obvious that Australia is behind the US in terms of access, both the access to the Internet and sites like Hulu, but nowhere near developing countries that are not even yet online. The NBN seems like a nice idea in theory, but it is evident the Federal Government have not invested enough research or thought into developing a well structured program for all Australians. Check out what the Liberals have to say.

I’ve come across some well written posts on these topics which both highlight the concern for the adoption of NBN and the ramifications for consumers.

Where's my laptop?

2009-05-30T18:11:00.000+10:00

As the digital divide is concerned with levels of access, the Rudd government made it an election promise to increase this ‘access’ to school students by promising laptops for each pupil.

However, a non for profit organisation, One Laptop per Child has already stepped in to provide computers for local communities in the Northern Territory.

I have doubts to whether firstly this can be economically feasible for the government and second of all, whether there are enough teachers to develop the skills of students using these tools. The digital divide is not merely restricted to physical access to a computer, but rather the skills needed to use the computer to serve the students educational requirements.

There is doubts published recently regarding laptops, but should the government be focusing upon laptops for every student when farmers in rural Australia are still using dial up Internet? It is a balance between the façade of meeting election promises and the reality of the needs faced by some of Australians rural communities.

So school are going to have to wait for their laptops, as the audit continues..

Leapfrogging the digital divide

2009-05-27T12:24:00.001+10:00

I was reading information about developing nations and how some nations, specifically African nations are ignoring the need for established broadband infrastructure and leapfrogging to mobile technologies. These nations have skipped establishing infrastructure such as telephone lines and getting private investors to establish mobile networks.

Why is this a problem? From a business perspective, this seems logical, as the problem for access is resolved and the new technology can be readily adopted.

However, after reading last weeks readings on the Digital Divide, getting another more powerful “core” nation to establish mobile technology infrastructure in a developing nation creates reliance, both through financing and education. In fact, it often disadvantages countries because although they may have mobile access, they still may not have access to basic necessities such as safe drinking water and shelter. Why would a country opt in for mobile technology infrastructure when basic infrastructure is needed? Clearly this appears to be a concern for national interests.

The UN run African Information Society Initiative outlines their involvement in actioning framework for communication and research, with technology being apart of this.

I thought this video provided a good insight into these mobile technologies:

Have a looksie!

2009-01-07T19:38:00.009+11:00

Here is a random selection of some my favourite musical Youtube clips (and one from Funny or Die) from the past couple years.

Zach Braff fandom at its extreme:

Favourite Ben Folds clip:

Some Hanson for good measure:

John Mayer on the song writing process:

Makin' Music with John Mayer by John Mayer

Enjoy!

Wrapping up 2008

2008-12-21T23:18:00.009+11:00

Most people are in the midst of the silly season, so I thought I'd partake in a little holiday blogging.

I can say that I've definitely grown professionally and personally this year - thanks to the wonderful experiences I've had with my work colleagues, friends and family.

And to sum up the year of 2008, a little mathematics:

Average Dollars spent on coffee this year - $660
Time spent at Firehouse for drinks - over 30 hours (thanks Catherine & Roge!)
Countries visited - 4
Spanish verbs I tried to learn - 57
Spanish verbs I actually learnt - 11
Time spent in hospital waiting rooms - 84 days
I heart NY shirts purchased - 10
Ben Folds concerts attended - 1 in NYC
21st speeches given for friends - 3
People I have conned into using Twitter - 6
Movies attended - 18 (I collect the ticket stubs)
Masters Acceptance Letters - 2 (Sydney & UTS)
Blog posts I wished I had written - 50 more this year
New Years Goals/Resolutions for 2009 - 4 (one which includes to blog more!)

Next post - Something in the New Year!

Tweeting about!

2008-10-23T20:59:00.006+11:00

Even after reading Wired's claim that blogging is dead, I still felt it was necessary to blog about the wonders of twitter.

Not only has the alleged real Britney signed up, but the Aussie Veronica's and the current Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbell has joined up too.

If this isn't enough, a recent Australian Top 50 Twitter Influencers released has sent a lot people into a tizz. I'm enjoying the irony of it all - numbers aren't suppose to count in a qualitative relationship based online world, but a lot of people are stressed about their position on this scale. A more thorough and coherent post on this is Alex Manchester's. It is important to have some rank, so you know who to engage with on twitter, particularly the thought leaders who rank in the top 10. However, unless you want to engage with people on twitter, you're not going to get higher up in the ranks.

So I'll be interested to see how Twitter develops from here in Australia, whether people are still battling it to make the Top 50 list and whether more politicians will be stepping up to the plate.

Flickr Meme

2008-09-19T20:10:00.005+10:00

So this is thanks to Alison Young's post , which inspired me to do it for myself!

Go to http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr and create a mosaic using the answers from these questions. Take your answer to Flickr and search for it.. Pick an image from the first page of search results, put it into the mosaic maker and post your results!

NB: For simplicity’s sake I’m linking and attributing after each answer and licensed under the Creative Commons. (thanks Alison!)

1. What is your first name? Lou
2. What is your favorite food? Fruit Salad
3. What high school did you go to? Brigidine
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Hugh Grant
6. Favorite drink? Vodka Raspberry
7. Dream vacation? Somewhere on the beach
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate Cheesecake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? No idea!
10. What do you love most in life? Opportunities
11. One Word to describe you? Crazy
12. Look up my flickr name and find something someone dedicated to you. Well I couldn't find anything, so I used a photo I took of a cake I baked my dad a couple years ago.

Dream Days at the Hospital Existence

2008-08-11T23:40:00.005+10:00

So in the midst of all the saga in Canberra - I jotted down a few points. These are totally unrelated to public relations or social media, but I figure they're worth sharing. So introducing:

How to tell if you've spent too much time in a hospital

- When the waiting rooms turns into a lounge room and you are up to date on all the latest hollywood gossip courtesy of all the crappy magazines.

- With no medical background, you know what intubate means, what an NG tube does, how blood oxygen sat machines can be temperamental and that nurses really do all the hard work.

- You also realise that hospital coffee tastes the same as any other fluid after a few sugars, and that cafeteria food usually isn't as bad as what the patients are getting served up.

- You know that breaking a nail, finger or leg is not comparable to what families have to go through when visiting family in the ICU.

- You're on a first name's basis with the night time security guard.

- That no matter that you look older or similar to your sibling, you will continually get confused as a girlfriend or wife.

- You appreciate the irony when the random strangers ask you why you're there (at the hospital) to which you reply 'car accident' and they reply "glad it wasn't the one where..." and you suddenly realise it is the one they're retelling.

- When the alcohol antiseptic spray you put on each time you enter the ward becomes your latest cologne/perfume.

- When you're allowed to eat at the staff cafertia and use a mobile phones on the ward.

P.S. In case you didn't get it, the title is a pun on one of my favourite Powderfinger albums :)

So I'm back...

2008-08-05T23:06:00.003+10:00

It's been awhile since I've had the real urge to write a post..

I didn't last long in Argentina, my brother was involved in a serious car accident . I lasted about four and a half days in cold Argentina, and hopped on a plane to come back to Canberra, Australia. After six flights and a total of 34 hours of flying, it felt like I'd not even left the country.

To use the cliche, it's been an emotional roller coaster. It's one of these experiences that you hear on the television or see in the movies, not something you wish to ever live through. Our family are lucky enough to have such a strong network of family and friends who have helped us through this rough patch..

So for me now it's settling back in the normal day of life, bizarre after spending almost 5 and a half weeks of living in a hotel in Canberra.

Don't cry for me (because tomorrow I shall be in) Argentina!

2008-06-09T23:04:00.005+10:00

A busy day spent packing for an overseas trip is quite an educational experience - not only have I questioned half the pieces of clothing I have purchased, but it really helps to find out what I need to survive. Should I pack a hair dryer? Do I really need 7 pairs of socks? Am I asking rhetorical questions because I've just watched the Sex & the City movie?

My procrastination of planning (how's that for an alliteration!) has culminated in packing this arvo before my flight out to Buenos Aires, where I will spend a solid three months fumbling around the continent with minimal Spanish. Thankfully, the first few weeks of my trip will be based in a language school with my good buddy Bella, hopefully easing some of the communication barriers I can currently foresee...I doubt that "Muchas gracias mono" is going to get me everywhere.

I will try my best to source out the Internet, I have a fear that I could be stuck with nothing, but that's just because I've been reading a lot of articles about the Lost Tribes. I do know the first 6 weeks will be in either Buenos Aires or Mar Del Plata.

A few of my twitter friends have asked if I'll tweeting - and the answer is 'si', I will be sending updates via my mobile phone. It's going to be my main communication channel for family & friends, as the 13 hour time difference might throw a few people off.

Next post: The struggles of communicating in Argentina.

CSU PR Grads - Where are they now?

2008-05-21T21:07:00.005+10:00

I toddled off to Bathurst last week to graduate in my beautiful gown and silly hat, and discovered that my short visit prevented me from finding out where everyone is at the moment. So here's a bit of an update of what people are up to at the moment, based on what I can remember and what Facebook tells me!

Hannah Dunn, Nea Pilgrim, Peri Muddle & Pip Goldsmith are taking over Burson-Marsteller, well at least their North Sydney Office. Hill & Knowlton still have the talented Jess Hughes on their staff, with Courtney Howard close by at the Department of Lands (sorry if I'm wrong Court, I'm sure it was a government organisation of some sort!).

Elisha Weber has made the trek down south to Melbourne, working in the crazy IT department in house. Someone else who caught the travel bug is Ali Hunter, who hung around in Bathurst to graduate,get her PRIA award & dashed off.

Archer Cox is missing in action, last seen wearing bright fluoro runners. Mitch Hume is still enjoying his picturesque views at Cannings, while Thom Landers continues to work hard at Bang PR.

Kate Leahy & Alex Mayhew are working at Cox Innall and Magnum PR respectively, and both have some attractive bio's up on their agency pages.

I left out almost half of our class, but my memory is a tad stretched and facebook stalking is very time consuming ;)Feel free to flick me an email if you guys have anymore info on where people are.

Strewth - Check out these little beauties!

2008-05-20T20:39:00.016+10:00

In my usual meandering online, pottering about and dabbling with new sites, I've come across some pretty useful online tools. Some of these have been around for awhile, and I may be a little slow off the mark, but bear with me - you may not have seen all of them!

The first site is Dipity, who I discovered through a tweet from @bmoyle (Joffre Street Productions).
Dipity is "the easiest way to make and share interactive timelines about the people and things you care about".

I can see these being very useful for monitoring and evaluating online campaigns for both individuals and organisations - it's easy to submit a RSS feed from any site and track what they're posted up.

The next site which I've actually known about for awhile is SlideShare. Most recently, I've been looking at the slides of a presentation done by Seb Chan, a blogger for The Powerhouse Museum, fresh + new(er).
His presentation covered the important aspects of social media & government, it was a really great view - the images & included social media content really show some of the amazing work being done at the Powerhouse Museum.

| View | Upload your own

Bloggerati Australia has been around for a couple years, as I checked out in the FAQ - but haven't only just come across it recently. It's hosted by the popular, Laurel Papworth, most famous for her appearance on the Today Show...I jest ;) It's got over 43,000 members, so definitely of worth to news chasers, public relations professionals & all those concerned with the media..

Finally, for those lacking the understandings of Aussie slang, go and follow AussieSlang on Twitter. Though they can be a bit on the rude side, I'll suggest you go and check out the link, rather than me chucking some of their updates on my polite blog ;)

Holy Moly - Catholic Facebook!

2008-05-11T16:51:00.014+10:00

The latest news this week was that the Pope & The Catholic Church are going to create a social network (like Facebook) as the central communication channel for World Youth Day. He'll also be sending inspiration holy text messages to those participating, as well as hosting digital prayers walls.

I guess this doesn't surprise me much - considering that social networks are really just specialised groups targeting people with specific interests - collating everything together just makes more sense. It's great to see this happening, especially within our beautiful country!

A few posts ago I mentioned that if social media is to become adopted by Australian organisations, more coverage is needed in traditional press. Well it seems to be heading that way, not just World Youth Day branching out online - the front page of AFR was a story on Woolworths planning some Facebook involvement.

I guess now it's just more discussion and research into specific ways Australian businesses can target online audiences.

First China censoring, now Twitter!

2008-04-29T20:41:00.005+10:00

After reading a tweet from Scott Drummond on whether twitter should be censored - I thought I'd just observe if it worked or not, rather than test the theory itself. (Side note - check out the new marketing magazine site - it's been recently launched and looking fabulous!).

So next thing I know - Lee Hopkins (yes two mentions in two blog posts - definitely on a roll now!) has written a rather surprised post on seeing text being censored on twitter.

Using the world's most reliable source (Wikipedia of course), I thought I do a bit of research on online censoring - which inevitably lead to China. First they blocked Google, then more recently the dispute with BBC.

Posted on this blog was the question:

So, is this a genuine loosening of web censorship in China or just a temporary PR move in the run up to the Olympics?

If this is suppose to be a PR stunt, I can't see it being fairly effective. There's been no official notice on restoring connections to the BBC and other online sites, nor has their been any release on the matter - it's all been very restricted.

Interestingly, the lead story on ABC's Foreign Correspondent tonight is on "The Great Firewall of China". Perhaps that will provide more insight into the Chinese government's censorship campaigns.

On a separate & final note, while having a scan on this topic in the blogs, one of the more amusing posts was that "Free Tibet" flags were being made in China!

Marketing social media through traditional press?

2008-04-23T21:24:00.002+10:00

I might be a little slow off the mark in blogging about this topic since it's been discussed into depth - but I thought I might provide a little insight into the topic of social media integration in Australian businesses.

Lee Hopkin's post of "Why Don't Australian Companies Get It?" raises some important points of opinion on why it hasn't been adopted within the business world - a question on ROI for most executive management teams.

So if an Australian business is keen to experiment with new social media, just googling it doesn't really help when this is the result of (searching social media services Australia (Have a look at the link provided - so much for SEO!). I am not silly enough to think that a google search is to blame for this - but where are companies getting their information from?

If public relations agencies aren't up to speed or their in-house communications team isn't aware - how are companies going to change if the people leading the pack aren't even skilled up? Then I guess this takes us along the path of educational sessions/programs - not that PRIA is to blame for the Australian industry to catch up, but from my understanding, they only starting hosting seminars on social media this year.

Maybe there's a market out there for social media "experts" or "advisors" to market themselves for Australian businesses through traditional media channels?

PROpenMic

2008-04-20T20:15:00.001+10:00

I've recently joined PROpenMic.

The fun (or perhaps terrifying) part of social media is becoming part of the online community - participating and learning through experience, rather than theoretical babble. The building of a community and those to engage in conversations with involves more than just the odd few comments - it's tracking whats happening in the blogosphere. In this light, it's great to become part of a new network that is growing more and more everyday.

Another wonderful thing about this site is all the connections I'm making with public relations professionals and students from around the world. The opportunity to not only discuss things in the forums - but to add more friends on twitter is great - especially for someone that is relatively new to the whole online scene.

Even Dr James E. Grunig is a member - someone who we referenced and discussed in university has joined - clearly a sign for new students to jump on the bandwagon and find a funky profile picture.

Investigating the online trail of Lou Veyret

2008-04-17T22:20:00.006+10:00

On the topic of managing your "digital dirt" I decided to evaluate my presence online. Sure there's my myspace, facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter pages - but what about what comes up when you search "Louise Veyret" on google?

Luckily that's all quite innocent, I'm not committing any kind of facebook suicide and I'm managing my online reputation well so far.

Amusingly, for the past 10 years or so (literally) the first thing that came up for Louise Veyret on google was a response to an Australian Science Magazine poll. Despite the comment being published in 1996, the comment seemed to haunt me as I was reminded of how I didn't think that violent video games would prevent someone from beating someone up. I kept thinking that this could sway the opinion of future employers, as the comment wasn't well written (I was still in primary school!) and not really related to anything that would be of interest to me. So I started signing up to other social networks, and slowly that link has made itself down the pile, surrounded by mentions of my father and other siblings.

I guess it's true what the social media experts and online gurus say about monitoring your online image - anything can be tracked or sourced, even things from over 10 years ago.

Killing two birds with one stone

2008-04-15T21:08:00.013+10:00

There was an article published in today's Sydney Morning Herald discussing how travel writer Thomas Kohnstamm has been fabricating content that was previously published in a few of South American Lonely Planet travel guides. This story was of particular interest, as those that know me, are aware that I am venturing overseas to South America in early June this year.

Perhaps I am quite cynical in thinking that this could just be a PR/marketing ploy, which is what has most recently been mentioned in the online forum LP has set up. The publicity generated not only is good for Kohnstamm's new book coming out, it's beneficial for all those travel worry warts who'll invest in a new Lonely Planet.

The tranquilo traveler has included a few links on the story - fascinating to see the widespread international coverage. There is also quite a long blog, with lots of passionate comments listed Brave New Travler . Eva Holland sums it up quite nicely:

Kohnstamm has done several things at once here:

1. Seriously undermined the credibility of an enormous publishing house that - in my opinion, anyway - does some pretty good work in the world
2. Re-proven in the minds of many editors that travel writers as a group are not to be taken seriously - and hey, guess what, it doesn’t benefit any of us in the long run to be considered a bunch of plagiarizing hacks
3. Taken opportunities away from other young writers who might have actually been willing to do the job they were paid for
4. And done it all deliberately, in the name of his own self-enrichment. Nice guy, right?

Luckily, the contribution of Kohnstamm to the travel guides does not seem to be substantial - and newer editions have been published without his content. I guess it just means travellers can't rely on one source for their knowledge on a topic, something that should be really reflected in all audiences of all texts.

Seriously?!

2008-04-12T21:23:00.009+10:00

The writer's strike early this year in the states didn't really effect (or affect, I never really know!) my television viewing. Australia was actually lucky for being so behind in the overseas sitcoms and dramas. This was probably due to the Aussie programmers of specific networks, delaying episodes so the Aussie audiences aren't left hanging.. (continuity in ratings may play its part too!)

It's actually so well planned that I shouldn't be disrupted in Grey's Anatomy viewing! Although I get my weekly enjoyment on Sunday nights of delayed episodes, I've started to think that despite it being full of soap operatic relationships, complex medical procedures and an awesome soundtrack, I found I still miss the complex dialogue of Dawson's Creek.

Take this clip for example - a whole montage of "seriously's"..

I'm finding that the more I watch this addicting drama, the more I begin to talk like the characters on the show. I guess it's better than my Sex and the City phase, where all my stories in my journalism class were "I couldn't help but wonder"!

The Glenn Wheatley saga..

2008-04-11T14:13:00.004+10:00

Working in a PR agency, it doesn't take you long to discover that to get coverage in the media, the process involves merely more than an email, it's follow up calls and chasing.

So when I saw this article of Glenn Wheatley on news.com.au, I thought perhaps the release must have had something meaty in it, so I checked out the fake release - but no, it was the usual scandalous, gossip focused story, aimed on the attracting the attention of the celebrity- driven, reality-television-watching teenages and young adults.

Judging by google news, the list of major metropolitan papers that picked up the story was huge!

I guess it's pretty easy to figure out what the media is after! But more importantly, it highlights the need for journalists to verify data - especially surrounding stories that can possibly tarnish the reputation of individuals and organisations.

"Starred" posts

2008-04-04T22:03:00.006+11:00

I've been slowly making my way through google reader, and have looked back on the 'starred posts'..i.e. the blog posts that I've found very valuable as a new graduate and practitioner..And here they are:

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Facebook
How To: Identify key words
Wikipedia: Where do people go after visiting wikipedia?
Ten no-cost ways to measure online engagement

They're definitely worth a bit of squizz!

April Fool's jokes

2008-04-01T22:23:00.003+11:00

I haven't been blogging in awhile - but I thought I'd start back on track with some links to some of the humorous jokes doing the rounds today.

The first one I got was through my rss feed for Google blogs Australia - still not sure if Smarthouse took it seriously or not!

I particularly enjoyed the UK BMW release - aiming to deter dogs from urinating on cars!

A social media related joke was that of Problogger - "PayPerTweet". Pretty hilarious, especially the results he received.

A couple others that are worth mentioning was the Red Balloon Days weekly newsletter - offering tea with queen, dinner at Mt Everest and tightrope walks across volcanoes.